€200,000 for rural recreation projects in Kerry- Griffin

€200,000 in Government funding has been allocated to rural recreation projects in Kerry, according to Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin.

“This funding of €200,000 for Kerry comes from the Outdoor Recreational Infrastructure Scheme, and is part of a €2.2 million allocation for 32 rural recreation projects nationally, announced by Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring. The funding comes in addition to the €11.4 million which was made available to 219 projects under Measures 1 and 3 of the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme last year.

“This funding is a really important part of the Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development and is designed to to improve walking trails, greenways and other recreational amenities, with grants of up to €100,000 being awarded.

“In Kerry the projects to benefit from this latest round of Rural Recreation Scheme are funding are Milltown Heritage and Recreational Trail for the development of a loop walk and Caragh Lake Amenity Development to upgrade the public right of way, both projects will receive €100,000 each.

“The maintenance of our trails, greenways and recreational amenities is hugely important for tourism across Ireland. With a number of policy measures, Fine Gael has overseen successful growth of visitor numbers since we entered government in the dark days of the recession in 2011. 2017 was a record year for tourism, with overseas visitors up by 3.7% to the end of November, and we will endeavor to keep this trend going. We will continue to prioritise projects that support the tourism industry which is so vital to rural Ireland.”

“Furthermore, funding and improving rural recreation projects in this way is hugely important for the health of the nation. I encourage everyone to get out and enjoy the fantastic free amenities in our communities all across Kerry. Fine Gael is working to strengthen communities as our economy recovers and this is just one example of how we can deliver better services to local people and improve our tourism offering to help local economies at the same time.”